Albion's Children
by nibby9
Summary: A rebellion stirring in the heart of Albion led by Morgana and her ward Morderd sparks a final epic battle for power but a spell soon goes awry, leaving the younger generation to fight back alone. Reveal fic & Time travel.
1. The beginning

**Chapter 1**

Arthur took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, turning his head to watch the kingdom he built below. Over the years he had shaped and moulded Camelot into the land that he had always dreamed he would rule with his most trusted advisor as ever by his side.

The cool breeze floating over the battlements gently waved the flags above and made the smoke from the buildings in the town drift slightly below. He smiled as he watched the children run laughing on the streets, safe in his peaceful kingdom – safe from magic.

"You've done well." Came the all too familiar voice from behind, "Camelot is prospering and you are well on your way to being the greatest leader this kingdom has ever seen."

"Do you really think so Merlin?" He asked, turning to face his friend.

"It's your destiny." Merlin said with surety.

"You know what, Merlin? I still don't understand how sometimes you're the complete idiot that you are and others..." He trailed off, shaking his head at the other man who looked half-insulted and half-amused.

"I don't know. There's always been something about you, Merlin. I'm just not quite sure what it is yet."

"I'm a riddle wrapped in a mystery."

"Indeed."

"And you're just a prat."

"Hey!"

"Fine, you're less of a prat than you used to be – happy?"

"I am not a prat!"

"Sure, but you were a lot thinner back then!" He half shouted, already breaking into a run just in time to hear an angry King shout "Oi!" and come tearing back into the castle after him.

Gwen smiled as she watched Merlin and Arthur race by in the corridor, Merlin laughing whilst her husband was shouting "I am not fat!" For the skinny thing that he was, Merlin could fairly move when he wanted to, even after the all of the work Arthur put him through in the day.

Despite being made Personal Advisor to the King, he still insisted that he kept his role as Arthur's manservant, much to everyone's surprise. At first, some of the court were against a servant being made an advisor to a royal but after a short reminder that she, as the current Queen, used to be a servant from the King himself quickly stopped any protests to the idea, and so Merlin remained forever faithfully by Arthur's side, just how he liked it.

She walked out into the sunshine of the courtyard and into the bustling streets of the market in the town. There she spied her daughter, Eve, by the jewellery with her best friend Clara, Leon's girl. Her beautiful daughter was the joy of her life and so far her child but that didn't matter as she was perfect in every way.

She had mainly taken after her father in looks with long blond hair that matched his perfectly but she shared her own chocolate eyes and slight curls. Despite being a excellent fighter, she always did have a weakness for jewellery – unfortunately meaning the more expensive the better.

"Hello Mother," the young Princess greeted, still keeping a careful eye on a particular gold necklace she had spotted.

"Good morning Gwen," Clara chimed in – Gwen would have none of the 'My Lady' nonsense and preferred to be called by her own first name.

"Morning girls." She smiled, approaching the two 14 year olds.

"I'm glad you're here mother, look what I spotted!" Eve grinned as she lifted the delicate piece.

It had a thin gold chain with just one blue jewel at the bottom, but it was unlike anything that she had seen before. It was as clear as a pure pool of water but a striking deep blue colour that glittered and shone in the light with an effect like flames. As expensive as her daughters choices were, at least she had taste.

"Ah, my ladies, I see that you have found one of my rarest and most precious necklaces" said the stall holder coming over to the three women.

"From further away than the White Mountains as one of only three pieces of jewellery made with the rare ore of a Blue Flame Stone, it truly is my finest and most exquisite piece on offer - a beauty worthy of a Princess as beautiful as yourself, my Lady." He grinned, bowing slightly. Eve's cheeks flushed a light pink at the compliment.

"It is a beautiful necklace..." Gwen began. She was trying to resist giving in to her daughter's pleading eyes but then realised that it was futile to try and sighed in resignation.

"Alright, we'll take it." The stall holder widened his cheesy grin while he placed the necklace in a beautiful wooden box, sealed it with a key and then handed it to Eve.

"It is an honour to have done business with you your majesties!"

As the women left, no one noticed the slight smirk that played on his lips.

_~Merlin~_

The warlock rounded the corner to hear a commotion from a neighbouring corridor. He frowned as he heard something like a vase shattering as it hit the floor followed by raised voices and the sound of running footsteps.

Warily, he tiptoed quietly to the turning where he heard the voices coming from but just as he stepped out to see what was going on, a small boy collided with him head on.

"Will!" He exclaimed, as soon as he had regained his senses after the crash "What in the world are you doing? Are you ok?"

"Father! Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Got to run, see you!" the boy replied before continuing to sprint down the empty corridor.

Confused, Merlin slowly walked to where he had heard the commotion before but now it was quiet – too quiet. Before he knew what was happening, four more boys came pelting down towards him but with his quick reflexes Merlin was able to grab two of them by the scruff of their collars.

"Whoa! You're going nowhere you two." He said, letting them both go "Rowan, Mark – what were you all doing?" he questioned "First I hear vases breaking and raised voices and then I get attacked by a mob of teen boys running around the castle!" The two looked at each other and grinned cheekily. Merlin gave raised an eyebrow at them that Gaius would've been proud of.

"We were just messing around..." the older boy, Rowan began "We were having this pretend battle between me, Mark and Dylan against Will and Luke and we were winning but then Will and Luke went down a passageway that we didn't know about so by the time we caught up with them, Will was able to get away and Luke tried to follow but we were already there and so we started sparring and then Dylan accidently knocked over the vase and then Luke legged it and we rand after him so... yeah... that's what happened..." he trailed off

"We cleared away the pot, by the way. I'm sure no-one would mind, it was a horrible vase anyway." added Mark, grinning like his father – _Where was Gwaine anyway?_ He thought, he didn't see him this morning - _must be at training already. _Merlin shook his head with a small smile.

"Well off you go then, just don't break anything else!" he told them, "Oh and Rowan, I think that your brother went that way" he said, pointing to where Will had ran before "See you boys!"

After watching them laugh and run off, Merlin continued on his way to the training field. He wasn't at all surprised to see Lancelot's daughter Florence and Percival's Robin, training across from the knights - they were probably more eager than any of the knights anyway. They were always sparring with each other and together could probably be a match for any of the grown men currently attacking each other with swords across from them.

He walked over to watch Arthur and the knights as well as the two girls training hard and sat down next to seven year old Ava who was watching her friends and father, Elyan, also. She and her brother Luke were adopted by the knight many years ago but had always been accepted as part of the family. Ava was the youngest of all the children of the knights and Royals but her age definitely did not hinder her confidence and determination. She wasn't scared of anything and although she didn't look like much, her bite was much worse that her bark.

"Hello Merlin!" she said happily, swinging her legs under the weapons stand that she was currently sitting on.

"Hello Ava – how's training going?"

"Robin's winning against Flo by two and daddy's neck and neck against Uncle Percy but I think he's going to win" she stated "Oh and Uncle Artie was looking for you before – he said something about the stables and two months or something like that..." Merlin groaned

"Thanks Ava" he said before heading towards the knights and the prat.

"Ah, Merlin, how nice of you to join us – I was just telling the Knights here how you had volunteered to muck out all of their horses as well as clean all of their armour!" Merlin opened his mouth to protest but before he could Arthur slapped him on is back and added "Well! Glad that's all sorted! Now, don't we have a council meeting to be attending?"

Merlin groaned once again, could his day possibly get any worse?

_~Merlin~_

"...and so the next patrol should be extra careful because of the more frequent bandit attacks - especially around the borders of Merris where most have been reported." Arthur warned the court at the round table. The surrounding nobles nodded and murmured in acknowledgement unaware of the presence of the four children eavesdropping from above.

"I _told_ you it would be boring!" hissed Robin to the others.

"Shhh! Or we'll get caught!" whispered Mark in response.

"Why are we doing this anyway?" complained Rowan.

"_Because_ I overheard father talking to Uncle Gwaine about a possible attack on Camelot" replied Dylan.

"Did you really hear Uncle Leon say that?" asked Robin quietly.

"Yes, that's definitely what father said – ask Clara if you don't believe me!" confirmed Dylan.

"Well if you're sister was there as well then..." said Rowan.

"See, I am telling the truth!" said Dylan.

"Will you all shhhh! They'll hear us! We're not meant to be here and I can't hear what they're saying!" whispered Mark, moving closer to the edge of the balcony to hear better.

"Are there any more issues that need to be discussed?" asked the King. The knights looked at each other before Sir Leon replied

"Sire, there have been reports from around the Kingdom of some unrest... People – well, sorcerers – have been reported to have gathering near Lot's kingdom. Rumours of uprisings and rebellions have been spreading around the towns and cities that are causing some panic. There are apparently meant to be a very large number of them – Sire, it could be an army."

"An army? Led by who?" thundered Arthur

"Morgana, Sire"


	2. Tomorrow

**Chapter 2**

Whispers and gasps broke out across the room - _Morgana? _They said, _But she's been gone for years..._

Arthur visibly paled at this news. He had been expecting something like this for a while but inside his head he had clung on to the hope that maybe, just maybe, she had stopped for good.

"Are you sure?" he asked quietly

"Almost certain Sire." Replied the knight with a solemn expression

Arthur frowned, a thousand thoughts going through his mind, emotions and memories replaying inside his head – the hurt, the betrayal, his father...

"Arthur..." Merlin's cool voice brought him back to reality, he too looked strained as everything came back but he seemed calm as though he had prepared for this.

Merlin was a puzzle in his mind, one that he believed would never be solved. There were things about him that kept surprising him like the way he would walk by his side into any battle without armour or any thought for his own safety and always managed to survive – even if it meant hiding behind tree when bandits attacked. Still, Merlin was the most selfless person he knew who would do anything for anybody so long as it was for good and he could always be trusted when it came to fighting the evil of sorcery.

"Right, yes...we should begin making some preparations in case these reports are indeed true and..." he took a deep intake of breath "Morgana..." he spat "is creating an army of sorcerers. But we need to confirm what is actually happening so I will be sending out a patrol immediately to where they are supposed to be gathering but at the moment don't make too many preparations – we don't want to start panic. We shall continue with the celebrations and feast tomorrow – court dismissed." Arthur ordered before exiting immediately, not letting a word in otherwise.

Silent gasps came from all of the eavesdropping children above, eyes wide open at the mention of Morgana and a possible army attack on Camelot.

If the reports were true and an army of sorcerers were going to attack Camelot then that meant a battle – and a battle meant casualties.

They had all known the bare outlines about who this Morgana person was and what she did but none of their parents were willing to go into much detail about it so the subject was mainly left alone.

"What would she want now after all of these years?" asked Dylan, looking a bit peaky.

"I don't know... but we'd better tell the others ... they'd want to know..." Robin replied, just as puzzled as the others. Mark and Rowan nodded silently in agreement.

"Let's go then, there's no use just hanging around here now. Besides, I want to finish that match with Flo that was _rudely_" she narrowed her eyes at the others "interrupted." She swiftly got up from their spying position and flew down the nearby stairs in the blink of an eye leaving the boys slowly following behind.

"Morgana?" Eve gasped upon hearing the news

"Yup." Replied Mark, popping the 'p'

"Are you absolutely sure?" she questioned

"Well, there were reported and supposed sighting of gathe-"

"So it's not definite?" she raised her eyebrow

"I suppose not completel-"

"There's nothing to be worried about then!"

"But-"

"No buts." She said sharply. "Surely if Morgana was going to attack with an army of magic users we'd know about it! And there were reported _gatherings_ – not army troops, so stop worrying and go back to doing... whatever it is you do."

"But-"

"Now." She glared; Mark needed no more persuasion than Eve's death glare to get him to scurry out of the room with new doubts forming in his mind.

_~MERLIN~_

"_Are you sure that the girl has it?"_

"_Yes, my lady"_

"_Good. Soon they shall all find out that all that glitters is not gold when their precious protector Emrys is drained of his powers"_

"_How do you know that the amulet will affect Emrys, my lady? You instructed me to ensure that the daughter or the Queen were to have it but surely they cannot be the almighty Emrys?"_

"_Of course not, you idiot! But someone is protecting the Pendragons – someone who's close to them. They would have to be near either the girl or her mother and a simple necklace would go undetected until it was too late. There will be a Kingdom without a protector soon enough and that is when we strike."_

_~MERLIN~_

The next day came quickly for everyone with all of the preparations for the feast of Beltane that evening well underway.

Everyone was excited to have a night with their hair down where they could enjoy the celebrations and have a well deserved break. This could not have come sooner for Merlin who had been worked off his feet for the past week helping Arthur organise everything, doing his chores and the extra work needed to get everything ready for the celebrations ready, as well as worrying about the possible Morgana threat.

Although he had a very large amount of magic, even the great Emrys has limits and to be against an army of individual sorcerers each battling against him would be extremely difficult to near impossible and would almost definitely meaning revealing that he had magic in the first place – a situation he would rather not think about.

He had been meaning to tell Arthur for years but once his actions had accidently killed Uther the guilt had been almost too much and he could not bring himself to tell him. It had also hardened Arthur's heart against magic and so instead he had just been avoiding it, hoping that one day he would have the courage to do it. And then there were the boys to think about.

If he revealed that he had magic then he would be placing his sons in danger as well. Will and Rowan meant everything to him and he would never let any harm come to them. Especially after the two began showing signs of magic from very early on just as he did, making it extra difficult to keep it a secret.

He longed for the day when they would no longer have to hide themselves because of who they were and have to suffer as he did. He wanted them to live without the constant fear of being found out but he simply couldn't bring himself to take that final step but now he had more pressing matters. Morgana.

At the mention of her name in the council meeting, everything had come flowing back with old memories resurfacing – ones he wished could remain hidden and buried forever.

If he had helped her when she needed it most maybe she wouldn't have turned to evil in the first place. He couldn't get the image out of his head of her choking, staring up at him in total betrayal as he watched her dying slowly in his arms.

He could never forgive himself for what he did that day and how he killed one of his best friends – yes, killed. Anything good that there had been in Morgana died that day leaving the cold, evil shell of a woman left behind, heart twisted to enjoy others' pain and suffering.

That was not the Morgana he knew.

Merlin did not doubt for a second that she was indeed planning to attack Camelot and wasted no time looking up spells of any use that he could use discreetly but effectively against a possible army of magic users. It was a near impossible task but that had never stopped him before.

Before he knew what it, darkness had settled over the city and he could hear the celebrations taking place – people laughing and cheering and having a good time. He heard a soft knocking from the door of his chambers and hurriedly rushed to the floorboard underneath his bed with his treasured magic book.

Although he had moved chambers since he had first arrived in Camelot, he still found the safest place was hidden where he had kept it safe for so many years.

"Merlin?" a gentle voice he recognised to be Gwen asked from the doorway.

"The one and only." He grinned walking over to meet her.

"Are you coming to the feast? We were all wondering where you were." She said softly, looking up at him with her warm chocolate eyes.

"Feast? What – oh, yeah... I'll come in a couple of minutes, I completely forgot!" he exclaimed. She laughed quietly, giving him a smile.

"Alright, I'll see you in a few minutes but be quick, Arthur's about to give his speech and he wouldn't want you to miss it." she told him before turning around and heading back towards the celebrations.

When Merlin arrived, the feast was in full swing with people eating, drinking, laughing and talking away whilst enjoying the party and festivities. However, as soon as he entered the room a sudden wave of nausea hit him straight on and it took all of his strength to force himself not to throw up. He didn't understand what had just happened but decided the best thing to do would be to just try to act as normally as possible to not draw attention to himself and so he continued to his seat and carefully sat down next to his friends.

"You alright mate?" Gwaine asked from beside him before taking another swig from his tankard "You look a bit peaky."

"I'm fine." He replied with a small smile, turning his attention to his sons beside him who seemed on the edge of their seats waiting for something.

He raised an eyebrow and followed their gaze to across the hall where Eve talking with Clara who was about to take a drink from her glass. Merlin's eyes widened when he realised what they must have done but before he could warn the unfortunate girl, she spat out her drink in disgust with her face twisted in revulsion, soon turning into a glare that she shot at the twins laughing beside him.

Leon looked around to his daughter to see what had happened and saw her glaring at Will and Rowan; Merlin shot him an apologetic look before turning back to scold the two but before he had the chance, the chatter stopped when a sudden drop in temperature as an unnatural wind began to pick up in the centre of the hall.

The laughing turned to screaming as people watching in horror as a figure materialised in front of them. As soon as she appeared there was dead silence.

"Well, dearest brother, we meet once more." She smirked, staring intently at the King.

"What are you doing here Morgana?" Arthur thundered, jumping to his feet. Merlin was soon to follow.

"Oh, just enjoying the festivities!" she smiled darkly, picking up an apple with one hand and biting it with a cruch.

"Guards!" he bellowed, taking Excalibur out from its sheath and pointing it at the witch

"Ha!" she laughed "Do you really think that guards or your petty sword would be able to stop me?"

Merlin clenched his fist, hundreds of possible spells to use going through his mind.

"I only wanted a little chat after all. You already know about my army now, don't you, so I just thought that I'd come and enjoy the festivities and tell you that tomorrow this Kingdom will be mine. Surrender now and fewer lives will be lost – I am giving you a choice."

"If you ever thought that Camelot would _ever_ surrender to you, then you were wrong. You have been corrupted by the evils of magic and I will _never_ let my Kingdom be under the rule of the likes of you!"

"That is where you are wrong brother. Magic is not what corrupted me; it was the tyrant rule of Uther! Oh, there are many who would happily see the fall of the Pendragond in their war against magic and they will join me in armour tomorrow to ensure it! This Kingdom is MINE! Tomorrow Camelot falls and it will all be your fault Arthur Pendragon – do you want to be responsible when the women and children die?

Do you want to be responsible when Guinevere dies?

Do you want to be responsible when Eve dies?" she taunted.

At the mention of his daughter made Arthur snap. The anger boiled to the surface and suddenly everything became a lot more personal. He gripped his sword so tight his knuckles were bare and lunged towards the woman but was soon thrown back with a simple golden glow of her eyes. The knights would have followed had they not have found themselves frozen and unable to move.

"Oh and Emrys?" she said aloud to no-one in particular.

" Mordred cannot wait to see you, his power is truly extraordinary and combined with my own, not even you will be able to stop us. Until tomorrow!" And then she was gone.


End file.
